Junkers was a German engineer and aircraft designer. As such
he is generally credited with pioneering the design of all-metal airplanes and
flying wings. As founder of the Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG, he was
one of the mainstays of the German aircraft industry in the years between World
War I and World War II. In particular his multi-engined all-metal passenger-
and freightplanes helped establish airlines in Germany as well as all over the
world. Although his name is also linked to some of the most successful German
warplanes of the Second World War, Hugo Junkers himself had nothing to do with
their development. He was forced out of his own company by the Nazi government
in 1934 and died in 1935.
As well as aircraft, Junkers also built both Diesel and
petrol engines and held various patents on thermodynamic and metallurgical
subjects. He was also one of the main sponsors of the Bauhaus movement and
facilitated the move of the Bauhaus from Weimar to Dessau (where his factory
was situated) in 1925.
Amongst the highlight of his career were the Junkers J 1 of
1915, (the first aircraft to use an all-metal skin cantilever wing design and
minimal external bracing), the Junkers F 13 of 1919 (the world's first
all-metal passenger aircraft), the Junkers W 33 (which made the first
successful east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic ocean), the Junkers G 38
"flying wing", and the Junkers Ju 52, affectionately nicknamed
"Tante Ju", one of the most famous airliners of the 1930s.
[February 3, 1859]
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